UPDATED with response from Leljedal Add another name to the growing list of Broward Sheriff's Office high-ranking employees putting in resignation papers since Sheriff Al Lamberti lost his election. This time, it's Jim Leljedal, the face of the agency when it came to news, the spokesman and head of the public information office. Here's what he posted on Facebook. Of course, he never did tell the Sun Sentinel! Surprised? I'm not. After 29 years at the Broward Sheriff's Office I put in my papers today and I'll be leaving Dec. 28th.

WEST PALM BEACH — A 12-year-old boy on a bicycle was hit by a bullet shortly before noon Sunday when the people inside two vehicles traveling in the 400 block of South Congress Avenue opened fire on each other, police said. "The occupants of the two cars were going at each other," said Capt. Dave Bernhardt, West Palm Beach police spokesman, "and unfortunately the boy was hit. " The shooting took place shortly before noon, police said. The boy, whose injuries were not considered life-threatening, was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff`s spokesman has been released from the hospital and is recovering from kidney failure, sheriff`s officials said. Bob Ferrell, 46, had high levels of calcium in his system, which may have caused the kidney failure, sheriff`s officials said. On March 23, Ferrell admitted himself to Palm Beach Regional Hospital, near Lake Worth, where he was critically ill. He was released from the hospital on Tuesday, and is recuperating at home. Before becoming sheriff`s spokesman in 1988, Ferrell was a Boynton Beach city commissioner.

This is one that President Obama is going to have a tough time explaining. Remember the promise about “If you like your health insurance, you can keep it under ObamaCare?” Remember? It was a lie. NBC News reports that sources involved in ObamcCare concede that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to have coverage cancelled in the next year. What's worse, Obama administration officials apparently knew this three years ago. Still, the public was told - by the main man himself - that if you like your doctors, like your insurance, you won't have to get rid of any of that under Obamacare.

West Boynton "Islam 101" will be the topic of a speech at 7:30 p.m. tonight by a Muslim spokesman for the Islamic Center of Boca Raton at Congregation L'Dor Va-Dor, a Jewish temple west of Boynton Beach. Hassan Sharif will explain the tenets of the faith as well as provide some perspective on the Palestinian position in the latest conflict with Israel. The event is free and open to the public. The temple's members meet in the cafeteria of Christa McAuliffe Middle School, 6500 Le Chalet Blvd.

Longtime Sun Sentinel crime reporter Ott Cefkin, who retired in 1985 and went on to become a spokesman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and then the Broward Sheriff's Office, died Sunday at his Cooper City home. He was 80. As a police spokesman from 1985 to 1993, Mr. Cefkin appeared on local and national TV news often and was regularly quoted in local newspapers. As a crime reporter, he covered some of the most high-profile killings of the era, including a string of more than two dozen slayings of young women in Broward County in the mid-1970s.

Florida Congressman Allen West isn't running for president. But that hasn't stopped enterprising websites from trying to round up money and support from conservatives around the country who want to put the tea party favorite in the White House. On the advice of national Republican leaders, West is keeping a distance from the "Draft Allen West for President" movement. Instead, West and his staff say they want people to know he has no control over the movement and is focused on representing his constituents and running for re-election to his House seat.

WASHINGTON -- President Reagan tapped veteran government press officer Marlin Fitzwater as chief White House spokesman Monday, prompting a hearty round of applause from reporters. "Don`t expect it to last," quipped a reporter as the smiling Fitzwater, 44, stood beside White House spokesman Larry Speakes, who made the announcement. Fitzwater has been press secretary to Vice President George Bush since April 1985. He is expected to assume his new post in February when Speakes leaves for his new six-figure public relations job with Merrill Lynch investment company on Wall Street.

Over the years I have found the U.S. Postal Service to be irresponsible and unresponsive. Thank you, Sun-Sentinel, for your Feb. 2 article on the displaced, blind vendor. This gentleman, Alan Lacov, after 24 years of operating a 5- by 10-foot concession stand in a post office, has not been given even that meager space in the renovated building. In your article, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman said no law requires the post office to accommodate Lacov. Later in the article, this spokesman is quoted as saying, "There is no requirement for us to provide space."

Posted by Brittany Wallman on November 4, 2009 08:41 AM, November 4, 2009

Fort Lauderdale's spokesman and head of the public information department is gone. Jeff Modarelli resigned and left last week his six-figure job. He'd been assistant city clerk, and then head of economic development, before the public information job. Chaz Adams, a public information officer in the department, is the spokesman now. "I am the acting PIO," he wrote me in response to my inquiry. "Jeff left to pursue another opportunity which he did not discuss."

After 16 years with the district, public information officer Nat Harrington will resign at the end of the year, he announced Thursday. He said he was pursuing "exciting new opportunities" and his last day will be June 6. Harrington, who was responsible for communicating information to the media and public, said his tenure "has been an extraordinary experience, one that has enriched my life and career. " The announcement comes after months of shuffling among the district's top brass.

IT'S ALL IN THE ANGLE: Contemporary Issues through a Torah Lens by Rabbi Avi Shafran, Torah Temimah Publications, Brooklyn, N.Y. 2013, 302 pages . When I was growing up, the debate between Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox rabbis on the one side and Ultra-Orthodox rabbis on the other was no contest. Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox rabbis spoke English; Ultra-Orthodox rabbis did not. And so it was not really a fair fight — at least not in the minds of the children of the immigrants.

With their contract and benefits expected to be big issues this year, the Firefighters of Boca Raton Local 1560 has hired Frank Correggio, the city's retired public information officer. Correggio retired on June 29 after 34.5 years in the Boca Raton fire service as a firefighter and paramedic. He was the department's media liaison for a decade, and founded the Fire Explorer Post 315. He started work for the union on Jan. 4. "I'll be putting out information to the public concerning our firefighters and our local through the media and on occasion some news conferences," Correggio said.

UPDATED with response from Leljedal Add another name to the growing list of Broward Sheriff's Office high-ranking employees putting in resignation papers since Sheriff Al Lamberti lost his election. This time, it's Jim Leljedal, the face of the agency when it came to news, the spokesman and head of the public information office. Here's what he posted on Facebook. Of course, he never did tell the Sun Sentinel! Surprised? I'm not. After 29 years at the Broward Sheriff's Office I put in my papers today and I'll be leaving Dec. 28th.

So far more than 152 flights have been canceled Monday at Fort-Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport due to Hurricane Sandy, according to airport spokesman Greg Meyer. Scores of flights to and from South Florida's three major airports have been canceled Sunday and Monday. Hundreds, if not thousands, of travelers could be stranded in South Florida Monday and Tuesday as Sandy batters the Eastern Seaboard. As of 3 p.m., Meyer said 69 of Monday's flight cancellations were arrivals and 83 flights were departures.

A pet dog was killed in an early morning house fire in Pembroke Pines, authorities said. The sole occupant was not injured. Pembroke Pines Fire-Rescue fought the fire at the home in the 1700 block of Northwest 93 r d Avenue in the Rainbow Lakes subdivision shortly before 4 a.m., spokesman Tom Gallagher said. When crews arrived, the blaze consumed the front of the house and the roof. The woman had safely evacuated her home, the spokesman said. The American Red Cross is on scene to assist her.

SunFest of Palm Beach County recently announced that Michael Brady of West Palm Beach has been elected president of SunFest 2000. In his new position, Brady will serve as SunFest's official spokesman and presiding over the executive committee and board of directors meetings until June 2000. "Having gone from a volunteer to president of this great organization is an honor, and I am excited to have this opportunity," Brady said. Brady began volunteering for SunFest in 1991. He worked on the public relations committee.

Detectives from the Hollywood Police Department are investigating the discovery of a dead man, police said. The body was found in bushes in the area of Southwest 54th Court and State Road 7, spokesman Lt. Forrest Jeffries said on Friday. It's believed the deceased was found sometime before 11 a.m. Preliminary information showed no obvious signs of foul play, Jeffries said. asatchell@tribune.com , 954-356-4209 or Twitter @TheSatchreport.

Longtime Sun Sentinel crime reporter Ott Cefkin, who retired in 1985 and went on to become a spokesman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and then the Broward Sheriff's Office, died Sunday at his Cooper City home. He was 80. As a police spokesman from 1985 to 1993, Mr. Cefkin appeared on local and national TV news often and was regularly quoted in local newspapers. As a crime reporter, he covered some of the most high-profile killings of the era, including a string of more than two dozen slayings of young women in Broward County in the mid-1970s.